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Law

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Programmers Across the Country Are Self-Organizing to Protest NSA Surveillance

“The Day We Fight Back” campaign seeks to reform the NSA

Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter announced yesterday that the National College Players Association would attempt to unionize.

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College Football Players Push to Unionize for Medical Benefits

Are college athletes students or employees?

Threaten with emoji, go to jail.

Cool Finds

An Emoji Death Threat Is Still a Death Threat

Death threats are illegal. Even if they come in the form of emoji.

Equal opportunity boredom.

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Jurors Cannot Be Dismissed From a Case Based on Sexual Orientation

The price for being treated like an equal human? Also having to serve jury duty

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Here’s the Paper That Popularized Net Neutrality

Net neutrality might be done for. Here’s a look at where it came from

Forty Years Ago, Women Had a Hard Time Getting Credit Cards

Despite the law, a report from 2012 found that women still pay more for credit cards

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Copyright Law Kept These Famous Works From Entering the Public Domain This Year

Here is a list of books, movies, music & scientific research that would have entered the public domain today had the 1978 copyright law not been passed

Border Agents Can Search Laptops “Without Reasonable Suspicion”

A U.S. District Court judge says border agents should be allowed to search travelers’ laptops

Central Park’s Horse-Drawn Carriages Could Be Replaced With Old-Timey Electric Cars

Demand for horse-drawn rides has reportedly spiked as tourists and locals alike rush in for a chance to take one last buggy ride through the park

Meet the Money Behind The Climate Denial Movement

Nearly a billion dollars a year is flowing into the organized climate change counter-movement

NSA Metadata Collection Is Unconstitutional, Judge Says

A U.S. District Court Judge ruled that the NSA’s metadata surveillance violates the Fourth Amendment

How One Chinese Corporate Spy Dodged the FBI to Steal Inbred Corn Seeds from Iowa

Mo Hailong faces a decade in prison for allegedly trying to steal millions of dollars-worth of corn seeds

To Fight Superbugs, FDA Goes After Antibiotic Overuse on Farms

The FDA is pushing for a voluntary end to the use of antibiotics on farms as growth promoters

This Group Knows You’ve Committed a Crime And Wants to Hear All About It

Have you ever committed a crime? Stop lying, you definitely have

Would you murder this robot?

Should Robots Have Rights?

Would you murder a robot? If you did, should you be charged for it?

Hockey Players Sue League For Failing to Address Head Injuries

On Monday, ten retired N.H.L. players sued the league for fraud and negligence

Before Trivia Nights, Bars Had Turkey Raffles

There were lots of ways you could win the turkey at the bar. They all involved drinking

Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

Here’s Why the FDA Is More Than a Little Freaked Out by Personal Genetic Testing

Really, this debate isn’t about 23andMe, but about a broader question of how to deliver and interpret personal genetic data

Protesters really in Tahrir Square in 2011

Egypt’s Government Bans Public Protests

A new law bans gatherings of more than 10 people

Here’s What the U.S. Is Trying to Do With the Iran Nuclear Deal

The Iran nuclear deal won’t stop the country’s ability to make a nuclear weapon, but it will give us more warning time

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